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SWTOR patch 1.3 bringing group finder, legacy perks

Justin Olivetti — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, Interviews, Patches, Previews, Star Wars: The Old Republic

A long time ago on a server far, far away, the Imperial forces BioWare prepared a Star Wars: The Old Republic update to rule the online world: patch 1.3. Called Allies, patch 1.3 will usher in a group finder, character transfers, and legacy perks.

The group finder will aid in banding together interested adventurers to tackle operations and flashpoints. Lead Designer Daniel Erickson said that the time is ripe for the feature, as players are spread out in levels and are rolling plenty of alts. Saying that BioWare wants to "respect the communities" that have formed, Erickson reports that the group finder will not be cross-server.

He also revealed some of the other key features for patch 1.3. Additional perks to the Legacy system will allow players to customize their experience; we'll see new ports, earlier access to mounts, and bonus XP modifiers for PvP. The patch will also change social gear to fit the armor type of the class using it, server transfers, and the ability to add augments to any crafting items. Looking past 1.3, Erickson promises a "return to big content" with patch 1.4.

If you're a fan of the SWTOR novels, you'll also be delighted to hear that Drew Karpyshyn announced that his next novel, Annihilation, is scheduled for November 13th.

You can watch the patch 1.3 preview video after the jump!

Continue reading SWTOR patch 1.3 bringing group finder, legacy perks

SWTOR patch 1.3 bringing group finder, legacy perks originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 May 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SWTOR preps character transfer service for this summer

Justin Olivetti — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:15:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Previews, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Community Q&A

Feeling grounded on a particular Star Wars: The Old Republic server while your friends are hyperjumping on a different one? BioWare says relief for player segregation is in sight, as the studio is preparing for character transfers in SWTOR starting "in early summer."

According to Senior Producer Dallas Dickinson, the service will be made available in waves. The studio will begin by offering free transfers to and from specific servers, but later on there will be a more widespread system that will allow anyone to transfer to the server of their choice. The service should help alleviate issues with low population servers by offering transfers to high-pop ones.

It's important to note that while some of these transfers will be free, others will require a real-world fee.

SWTOR recently released in new territories including the Middle East and has plans for additional playable races for later this year.

SWTOR preps character transfer service for this summer originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Final Fantasy XIV server merges reassessed; merges to take place in March

Matt Daniel — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, News items, Final Fantasy XIV

Only four days ago, Square-Enix announced that it would be reevaluating the previously announced Final Fantasy XIV server merges based on player feedback. Well, it looks like the reassessment is complete, and the server merge details have been solidified. In a post on FFXIV's Lodestone website, the studio announced that server merges will be taking place next month on Tuesday, March 27th. The stated reason for the server merge is "to improve the player experience during the period up to the launch of FFXIV version 2.0." The studio goes on to add that "new worlds may be added in the future, for example after the relaunch or when player numbers increase."

Beginning on March 1st, players will be able to use the site's world transfer application page in order to declare their destination servers. It's worth noting that the early bird gets the worm, and by worm we mean server of choice, due to the fact that once a world reaches its population cap, it will (obviously) no longer be available as a destination. To get the full details on the upcoming server transfers, just click on through the link below to the official Lodestone announcement.

Final Fantasy XIV server merges reassessed; merges to take place in March originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Waaaghon Ho!: Warhammer Online merging servers following free transfers

Justin Olivetti — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, News items

Saddle up, rough riders: It's time to head to more fertile lands! Starting next week, select Warhammer Online players will be given the option to transfer between servers for free. The decision is Mythic's attempt to merge underpopulated servers, and the company hopes that this move will drive up the action in RvR for previously quiet locations.

Players on the Gorfang (North America) and Karak Azgal (Europe) will be able to move house to Badlands and Karak Norn, respectively, starting December 14th. Once this happens, Gorfang and Karak Azgal will be marked as "Legacy" servers, keeping new players from rolling on them, and then after three weeks, the two servers will be shut down completely. Any characters left on those servers will not be playable until they transfer to their new homes.

Mythic is also paving the way for guilds to move wholesale to new servers, with more information about this coming next week.

Waaaghon Ho!: Warhammer Online merging servers following free transfers originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LotRO removes server transfer restrictions

Justin Olivetti — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Economy, Free-to-play

Ever since free-to-play came to Lord of the Rings Online, players looking to move from one server to another have often run into a big, forbidding wall. To keep the server populations from capsizing, Turbine disallowed transfers to select servers for over a year.

It looks like this has changed, as Turbine recently posted an update to its paid premium services forum thread. In it, the studio announced that all such transfer restrictions are removed:

We are also happy to announce that NA World Character Transfers are now available for transfer between ALL North American servers as of 9th November, 2011! Yes, you may now transfer TO Brandywine, Crickhollow, Dwarrowdelf, Elendilmir, Imladris, Landroval, or Riddermark!

European players have access to this service as well.

Unfortunately, these transfers aren't free but come with a hefty pricetag. Players looking to move server homes will need to shell out either $24.95, €21.95, or 2995 Turbine Points. There is also an issue with moving a character back to a server that it came from, so players cannot do that until Turbine resolves the issue.

LotRO removes server transfer restrictions originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Enter at Your Own Rift: RIFT's battle plan

Justin Olivetti — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, Opinion, RIFT, Enter at Your Own Rift

A month or so ago my colleague Karen looked at RIFT's own future forecast for the game, and it's apparent from Trion Worlds' state of the game reports that the company is confident and clear in the direction it wants to go. The problem is that nobody consulted me, personally, on what I think the game needs as it heads forward. Not that I'm any great gaming guru, mind you, but it would be nice to be asked.

In a very real sense, RIFT is at a crossroads. It will shortly cease to be the newest big kid on the block, a position it has enjoyed for a majority of 2011. I won't invoke the names of the power hitters on deck, but trust me, many RIFT players are well aware of the competition. Players and guilds are evaluating the game as it is right now and whether or not they'll want to stay when the new hotness is released. My prediction? Some will, some won't. You can quote me on that.

Personally, I think RIFT is in a remarkably good position. It continues to grow in subscribers, according to the company, and it's proven to have staying power a half-year after launch. I'm encouraged when I see friends and fellow players randomly praise the game even though its honeymoon veneer has long since worn off. There's something worth fighting for, here -- but a fight it will have.

Hit the break as I lay out what I think should be RIFT's battle plan for the next 12 months.

Continue reading Enter at Your Own Rift: RIFT's battle plan

Enter at Your Own Rift: RIFT's battle plan originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Scott Hartsman: 'Happy customers stick around longer'

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Interviews, RIFT

"Here's the overall philosophy behind all this: Happy customers stick around longer," Scott Hartsman said in an interview with Gamefront. "That's what we think. That's the beginning and end of it." It may seem like common sense, but for Hartsman and the team at Trion Worlds, it's a lesson they feel is easy to forget.

He cites this as the driving force behind one of the game's major upcoming changes: the ability to transfer characters between servers for free. Trion hopes that the character transfers will help friends connect without the obstacle of separate servers getting in their way. Hartsman said that the tech behind the transfer is impressive -- not to mention "instantaneous" from a customer standpoint.

Hartsman says that the team places a premium on talking frankly and frequently with players. If Trion doesn't always come across as perfect, he hopes that the company makes up for it with communication and sincerity: "We don't want to hide behind a big wall, and we don't want everything to come through a formal mouthpiece. I'd rather have us all out conversing with people and occasionally making a mistake here or there on the assumption that because we are talking to people more means that overall, things are going to be better."

The lengthy interview covers a wide range of pressing topics, from the "bumpy" River of Souls event to the LFG system and the free trial program.

Scott Hartsman: 'Happy customers stick around longer' originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 07 Jun 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Enter at Your Own Rift: Rethinking server transfers

Karen Bryan — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, Opinion, RIFT, Enter at Your Own Rift

Last week's big RIFT news was that free server transfers were on the way with the next major game update. Players who have been stuck on lower population servers have been clamoring for the ability to join up with higher population servers, and now they'll finally have the ability to do just that.

But any time things like free transfers and server mergers are brought up, the immediate conclusion is that it's a sign that a game is losing players, and as a result, is failing. Free transfers are usually only seen as an act of desperation, and they usually come on the heels of drastic server mergers, as we've seen in games like Vanguard, Warhammer Online, and Age of Conan. But if a game is believed (by the masses) to be doing OK, transfers are seen as a service that comes with a price, as in games like World of Warcraft or EverQuest II.

So how do we interpret the news of free weekly transfers in RIFT? Read on for a look at why it's actually great for the game and why they're more than just a shrewd marketing campaign.

Continue reading Enter at Your Own Rift: Rethinking server transfers

Enter at Your Own Rift: Rethinking server transfers originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Updated: Latest round of Aion server transfers botched

Rubi Bayer — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, News items

Aion players have been anxiously awaiting this week's round of server transfers. They waited for their chance, paid their subscription fees, and looked forward to server transfer day. That day was supposed to be today -- the Aion servers were down for maintenance with server transfers being part of the deal.

Unfortunately, there was a glitch in the system somewhere. When the servers came back online, players found themselves on the same old servers. Aion's Community Manager Andrew Beegle has been keeping frustrated players up-to-date via Twitter, and the latest update from about an hour ago indicates that the transfers won't happen today. "Greetings Daevas! We had to postpone transfers due to some technical difficulties. We will have a new date for the transfers ASAP. "

We'll keep an eye out for that new date here at Massively.

[UPDATE: We've heard from NCsoft, and Aion players will be happy to hear that the server transfer issue will be cleared up very soon. "The transfers will be executed at 10am CDT tomorrow for North America and 10pm CDT tonight for European territories."]

Updated: Latest round of Aion server transfers botched originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aion developers acting to correct server imbalances

Rubi Bayer — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, News items

Aion's July community address mentions the upcoming 2.0 patch, of course, but that's not what grabbed the attention of the fans.

The recent server merge created some predictable imbalances, and the Aion team has made a few decisions on how to begin rectifying them. NCsoft's Lance Stites, who penned this month's address, tells fans that server transfers have been temporarily disabled while the devs sort things out: "All the associated Aion teams are working on a solution to allow character transfers to resume with appropriate limits in place to prevent radically unbalanced servers."

Furthermore, race creation is "selectively" limited on each server, in the hopes that it will help balance things out. "For instance, if you're playing on a predominantly Elyos server, Asmodian creation will be the only race available for new characters," says Stites.

The situation is only temporary, and hopefully only a first step in sorting things out on the newly-consolidated Aion servers. Take a look at the Aion site for the full July community address.

Aion developers acting to correct server imbalances originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aion server merge mail and warehouse policies explained

Jef Reahard — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, News items

Wringing your hands over the possibility of losing your mail (or more importantly, your account warehouse items) during the upcoming Aion server merges? Fear not, as Andrew "Tamat" Beegle is here to soothe your concerns.

Well, technically he's on the official Aion website, checking in with a post that explains the details of the forthcoming merges in regards to item and mail transfers. "All mail will transfer over to your new server, including attachments. However, to eliminate any likelihood of anything going wrong with your mail and attached items, read and delete your mail, and store attached items in your inventory," Tamat says.

"All items will be saved in the account warehouse, but you will not be able to access any items that do not fit within the account warehouse's 16-slot limit. Any items exceeding 16 are still stored in the account warehouse, but will remain invisible until some items have been moved to another storage space, such as a character's cube or warehouse," he continues.

Read all about it on NCsoft's official Aion website.

Aion server merge mail and warehouse policies explained originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aion offers six free server transfers per character

Jef Reahard — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, News items

With NCsoft's upcoming Aion server merges looming, chances are you've taken the time to figure out where your daeva's new home is going to be (as well as marked your calendar to be sure you get first dibs on keeping your name). What you may not know is that you've got plenty of opportunities to test out the various Aion server communities after the merges are complete.

In its weekly Eye on Community featurette, NCsoft answers a player-generated question about transfer specifics. "During the free character transfer period, characters you submit for transfer are placed in a collated list, together with transfer requests from other players. The transfers outlined in this list will all be executed at the same time during weekly maintenance. Because transfers are moved in a batch each week, you will be able to transfer your character up to six times before the 18th of August, when the free character transfer period ends. Our intent is to let you test the waters so that you can decide which server best suits you," says the featurette.

Aion offers six free server transfers per character originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 04 Jul 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pirates of the Burning Sea announces server merges

Rubi Bayer — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Historical, Pirates of the Burning Sea, News items

Are you a fan of Pirates of the Burning Sea, and feel like the population in game has been a bit thin these days? You're certainly not alone. Other players have been expressing the same opinion, and Sony Online Entertainment has been listening.

On March 5th, Pirates of the Burning Sea will be closing three servers: Blackbeard, Defiant, and Rackham. The two remaining servers, Antigua and Roberts, will serve the entire player base.

Sony Online Entertainment is giving players a month to make plans and choose a new server. Beginning this Friday, February 5th, players on Blackbeard, Defiant, and Rackham will be able to transfer their characters to either of the remaining servers. Character creation on those three servers will be disabled at the same time, so start making your plans for new characters and transfers of current characters now.

Character transfers can be done via the PotBS character transfer service.

Pirates of the Burning Sea announces server merges originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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City of Heroes offers free character transfers for the holidays

Rubi Bayer — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, News items

'Tis the season to give and receive presents. (Among other things, but presents are awfully nice.) In this case, City of Heroes is the giver. From now until the end of January players can receive free character transfers -- and yes, all of your character's stuff will be transferred with him or her.

Now before you go leaping servers all willy-nilly, NCsoft does have some guidelines and limits. Nothing too restrictive, just things that follow the laws of common sense and prevent people from abusing the function. The Free Character Transfer FAQ gives you the rundown. First, you have to stay "local": no jumping from a European server to a North American one, or vice versa. Second, it's not an unlimited number of transfers, although it is very generous. You get six transfers a week, regardless of how many characters you choose to move back and forth.

For the full FAQ, take a look here, then go enjoy your newfound freedom in City of Heroes!

City of Heroes offers free character transfers for the holidays originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Have you re-rolled on Darkfall's NA server?

Seraphina Brennan — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Darkfall, Culture, Expansions, Launches, PvP, Opinion, The Daily Grind

Fifty bucks isn't chump change in this economy, but it's what Aventurine is asking as the price of admission to their new North American Darkfall server. If you want in you need to purchase a brand new account, and that brand new account is the price of a brand new game.

But, you get to play in a server that's starting from scratch. Everyone is once again on the same level, the cities were open for capture (briefly, then they all got taken,) and the mystery of the world has been re-opened. Aventurine has thrown down many fixes since the original launch, leading some people to call the EU server the "paid beta" while the NA server is the "true launch."

What we want to know is what are your feelings, Massively readers? If you play Darkfall, have you gone over to the new server? Why or why not? Are you waiting for the transfer after three months? Even if you don't play, would you switch servers if the new server came with a 50 dollar price tag? Or would you jump onto Darkfall just to be in the new NA server?

Comment away!

The Daily Grind: Have you re-rolled on Darkfall's NA server? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Darkfall's US server to launch today

Seraphina Brennan — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Darkfall, Business models, Launches, News items

Darkfall's first North American server, NA1, is due to launch today. The stage is set for the new server with the release of Darkfall's expansion, and July 13th is the date declared by both the website and the game's associate producer, Tasos Flambouras.

However, beyond a single thread regarding how to download the new US client, the launch has been very quiet. The account page is now online, ~~ready to take your payments of 49.98 for the brand new NA client.~~ Edit: While the account management is working and you can create an account, ~~the shop is currently offline and unable to take new purchases of the game.~~

EU users interested in playing on the NA servers with their EU characters will still have to wait, however, as EU players will only be able to transfer to NA three months after the launch. Even then, EU characters will not be allowed to bring their possessions with them, transferring onto the server as a naked player. However, on the bright side, those who wait will not have to pay for a brand new account to play on the NA server.

Update: The shop is now online. Have fun!

Darkfall's US server to launch today originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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More server consolidations in WAR?

Brooke Pilley — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, News items

Less than three weeks after launching Land of the Dead, the Warhammer Online Herald is reporting another round of free transfers from several source servers to a few destination servers. Members of Ironfist, Vortex, Monolith, Magnus, and Skull Throne have been urged to transfer to more populated servers. Players on all servers are being rewarded with an extra 20% experience and renown bonus to mark the occasion.

The latest WAR Grab Bag mentioned server merges specifically: "...we are expecting to resolve our long term population issues on our lower population servers and see high populations regularly as part and parcel of server merges that are currently in discussion."

Mythic consolidated (read: merged) 40 low population servers back in early March 2009, leaving the game with 14 servers in North America. Merging these new servers will eventually leave WAR with 9 active servers. Darren (aka The Common Sense Gamer) is wondering what a lot of us are wondering right now: Is Mythic still correcting for an overzealous server launch strategy or is the game's population no longer holding steady at 300,000?

More server consolidations in WAR? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Darkfall details their plans for the future and North American servers

Seraphina Brennan — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: At a glance, Fantasy, Darkfall, Business models, Game mechanics, Patches, PvP, News items, PvE

Developer Tasos Flambouras of the Darkfall team stopped by the official Darkfall forums again with a lengthy update concerning pretty much everything under the sun for Darkfall -- from cheating to future updates -- all in one large swoop.

One of the big notes of the post is the acknowledgement of a North American server coming down the pipes, but coming with restrictions to character transfers. Original plans detailed that characters from the European server could transfer off onto the American server (as North American players are certainly playing the European version right now) but this transfer will now be delayed by several months. So, if you're itching to get off of EU-1, looks like you might be waiting for a while unless you wish to create a new character on NA-1.

Past the new server, Tasos has outlined some of the priorities for the Darkfall team, including an enhanced newbie experience, improvements to the economy, upcoming improvements to the solo and group experience, and improvements to the game's PvE system to name a few. While exact details haven't been given, it's nice to know that things like this are on the developer's "to do" list for future updates.

The full post containing all of the juicy details can be read over at the official Darkfall forums.

[Via Hardcore Casual]

Darkfall details their plans for the future and North American servers originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 29 May 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warhammer role-play servers: And then there was one

Brooke Pilley — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, News items

Mythic just began another round of free server transfers in Warhammer Online and this time they are allowing players to transfer from Ostermark (OST) to either Phoenix Throne (PT) or Vortex (VOR). OST and PT are the only two remaining North American servers using the role-play rule set. VOR has a core rule set.

This transfer presented Mythic with some unique issues. OST may have been one of the lowest population servers, but it still had a fairly substantial active player base and forcing everyone onto one server could have led to balance and overpopulation consequences. Many role-players also had characters of one realm on OST and the opposite on PT.

Mythic's rules do not allow subscribers to play both sides of the war on the same server, so they gave players of PT the opportunity to transfer to VOR as well. Finally, there is the issue of transfering from a role-play server to a core server, where there is less enforcement of proper naming and player maturity.

These issues aside, WAR is a game that requires a large number of players to be enjoyable, so many Oysters (as they're called on OST) are embracing this transfer option (as evidenced by Mythic's account website running much slower than usual today). Those wishing to transfer should read all the rules before doing so, as the process requires character and guild preparation.

Warhammer role-play servers: And then there was one originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mythic merging forty low population WAR servers

Brooke Pilley — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, News items

This news miraculously slipped under our radar yesterday because it was billed as yet another round of source server transfers. Upon reading a bit deeper, we noticed this line: "Characters on the source servers listed below will all be consolidated onto the corresponding destination server. All source servers will eventually be closed."

There are 40 source servers and 15 destination servers listed in the table. This transfer and eventual merge will affect every server except Phoenix Throne, which is widely regarded as the most balanced and stable server for all of Warhammer Online.

Perhaps the most interesting part of all this is a speculative tool called the Warheap active server list. If you look at Mythic's official list of destination servers, you will notice that they almost identically match the only servers listed on Warheap with active rank 40 RvR taking place. We were originally sceptical about how accurate this tool was but now we're believers. The only question remaining is how accurate the activity numbers really are. (Incidentally, they are scraped from Mythic's very own Realm War site.)

Some people may take this news negatively, but WAR subscribers have been begging for server merges for months now. It appears they are finally getting their wish, which can only improve the game. You need people to RvR with, right?

Continue reading Mythic merging forty low population WAR servers

Mythic merging forty low population WAR servers originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WAR population numbers revealed, but what do they mean?

Brooke Pilley — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, Culture, Warhammer Online, Opinion

When Mythic Entertainment released Warhammer Online on September 18, 2008, it quickly became the fastest selling MMORPG ever. A month after release, they announced WAR had registered 750,000 players and people were buzzing that it may actually make a noticeable dent in World of Warcraft's armor. But as the expression goes: good things usually don't last.

Box sales in your first month are one thing, but what matters most for a subscription MMORPG is player retention. Since October 2008, EA and Mythic have remained completely silent about WAR's numbers, something that is never really a good sign. Player and industry speculation was rampant given consistent reports of an in-game exodus of players. The speculation that WAR was losing players was confirmed by a financial report released by EA stating that WAR had just over 300k subscribers as of December 31, 2008. Let a new round of speculation about what these numbers mean begin.

Join us after the cut where we'll discuss the reasons I think WAR lost so many players in such a short period of time. I'll also chat about how I think Mythic can regain those lost subscriptions and perhaps grow even larger!

Continue reading WAR population numbers revealed, but what do they mean?

WAR population numbers revealed, but what do they mean? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 05 Feb 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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XP and renown bonuses for WAR transfer servers

Kyle Horner — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, News items

With the recent server transfers made available to Warhammer Online players, Mythic enabled players to move onto several servers free of charge. Now they're offering limited time server bonuses for players making their trek onto the offered servers. The bonus itself is a 20% rested boost to experience and renown gain. It's a nice little cherry on top for players packing their bags and it should also help encourage some people on the fence to take Mythic up on the offer.

Anyone interested in making a move (or seeing if they're even able to do so) can check out this handy list at their leisure. We're sure to see more of this kind of encouragement from Mythic in the future, at least where and when it's necessary.

XP and renown bonuses for WAR transfer servers originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SOE releases FAQ on Star Wars Galaxies free server transfers

Michael Zenke — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Star Wars Galaxies

The official Star Wars Galaxies site has a followup to Producer Chris Fields' announcement that free server transfers would be coming to the community. They now have an FAQ up, attempting to answer some of the the numerous nitpicks players will have with this daunting project. The actual transfers won't kick off until early next year (as originally indicated by Dotanuki), but it sounds like they're already prepping players for server closings. One of the FAQ points is "Where can I find a list of servers that will be offering a free transfer?" This would seem to indicate certain servers are seen as stable enough to keep 'whole', while others should probably be emptied.

The document notes that the server transfer list won't be made available until about a month before the project starts, as the developers track detailed server information. Other notes about the project:

Houses need to be packed up; they won't automatically transfer to a new server with you. Yes, that probably means you're going to lose your house's spot.
Vendors need to be closed out and their inventory removed. Vendors will be destroyed by a server transfer.
Players will need at least one slot free on their new server to transfer an existing character in. Players with an unlock slot (from the pre-NGE days) will be able to transfer three characters to their new server even if they didn't unlock a slot on that new server.

Full details are available on the official site, and we'll continue to watch this ambitious reorganization of the SWG playerbase as it unfolds.

SOE releases FAQ on Star Wars Galaxies free server transfers originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Anti-Aliased: PvPissed

Seraphina Brennan — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Culture, Game mechanics, PvP, PvE, Opinion, Anti-Aliased

It's in the nature of every MMO player to snap at change -- it's what we do. When the patch notes reveal that Class X got a decrease in DPS to make them of a "more balanced power", you can expect all players of Class X to lead a revolt across the forums with pitchforks and torches. This behavior has become so commonplace that we tend to just ignore it after a while.

But for once, the intense flaming power of the World of Warcraft forums is being put to good use, if you ask me. Blizzard has announced that they are letting players transfer from standard servers onto their Player vs. Player servers in an outstanding reversal of their original policy on the matter. Now anyone on a normal server can just waltz up past the Gumdrop Mountains to find Queen Frostine and ask her to use her transporting powers to send them to what could be construed as MMO 4chan. (That Candy Land reference was for you, James Egan.)

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Anti-Aliased: PvPissed originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Is WoW changing due to WAR?

Krystalle Voecks — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 08:30:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Game mechanics, New titles, PvP, Opinion, The Daily Grind

With Blizzard's announcement yesterday that they were opening up PvP realms in World of Warcraft to accept character transfers from PvE realms, many feel that the move was purely out of concern for losing PvP players to the upcoming launch of Mythic's Warhammer Online. WAR is definitely geared more towards PvP fans, offering the ability to level up via PvP without having to touch regular "kill-x" type questing content. Of course, with a shiny new world based on the Warhammer pen & paper legacy, many people are choosing to do those quests anyway simply for the sake of exploring this strange and deadly new world. Sure, World of Warcraft has Wrath of the Lich King coming, but many are feeling burned out in the face of their raiding and PvP epics getting replaced by greens again shortly after starting in Northrend.

So this morning we thought we'd ask you; do you think that this is an attempt to keep their PvP players, as many believe? Is this simply Blizzard trying to offer more value to their current subscribers? If you opted to leave WoW to head for Warhammer Online, does their PvE to PvP transfer announcement do anything at all to make you reconsider your decision?

The Daily Grind: Is WoW changing due to WAR? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 12 Sep 2008 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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World of Warcraft opens PvE to PvP character transfers.

Krystalle Voecks — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:45:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Game mechanics, PvP, News items, PvE

In a move that has stunned many people in the World of Warcraft community, Blizzard has reversed their earlier stance on no PvE to PvP server transfers. Per Bornakk on the official World of Warcraft forums, Blizzard has decided to open up transfers from PvE servers to PvP servers because "World of Warcraft has matured significantly since the inception of Paid Character Transfers, [they] don't feel that PvE-to-PvP transfers will have the negative impact on the game that [they] initially wanted to avoid when [they] started the service in 2006. This change will provide more mobility and freedom for players to experience the game with friends or play in the type of environment they're looking for."

Considering the furor that is now starting up on the official forums regarding this major change in dynamics, we can only wonder why after so many years Blizzard has reversed their decision. Previously, Blizz maintained that they wouldn't allow transfers from PvE to PvP because it would be unfair to players who leveled characters up in a PvP environment. They wanted to avoid PvPers having to deal with people who transferred into the harsher climates that PvP servers provide after having leveled up on PvE servers. With the largely guaranteed bank roll that is Wrath of the Lich King, one wonders just precisely Blizzard seeks to gain by changing a long-standing mechanic such as this. Do they really need more money? Or is this just, as one forum poster suggested, a way to allow players who started on PvE realms to finally 'rescue' their characters? Perhaps it has something to do with the smaller populations traditionally on PvP servers? Only Blizzard knows for sure as to the reasoning.

We recommend packing marshmellows if you go anywhere near the WoW forums for the next while; the flames are coming.

World of Warcraft opens PvE to PvP character transfers. originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vanguard offers another chance to swap servers

Michael Zenke — Fri, 09 May 2008 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Vanguard

Early this week we brought you some great-looking previews of the next content drop coming to Vanguard, Game Update 5. Today, SOE is hinting that the advances the game has made over the last year are making a difference. Claiming that players are returning to play with old friends, they're offering new chances to hop servers and reconnect with their fellow players.

Next Tuesday everyone will have the chance to complete a server transfer simply by using the /petition command. Avatars can be moved to any of the Vanguard shards, with the exception of the PvP realm Sartok. Players who don't take advantage of this next week's opportunity will have another one during the week of the 19th to the 23rd. All that's required to make the move is a packup of all broker items, collection of all tombstones, and the acquisition of all items inside your house. No need to tear down your house.

Vanguard offers another chance to swap servers originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 09 May 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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